James Potter and the Marauder's Map
by Kiesi
Summary: When Lily gets on the Hogwarts Express, she wasn't exactly expecting to see James the first day. But as the year progresses she soon realizes that despite her hatred towards him, James is the only one who can save her from what lies within Hogwarts.


Okay, this is my first fan-fiction, and as such, I'm begging you to be kind! Also, please don't bite my head off if this is not 100 accurate, because, well, it's fiction, and as such, doesn't need to pay attention to every single little detail.

Summary:

We've all heard of Harry Potter and his wondrous adventures, from fighting Voldemort to reuniting with his long-lost, jailbird godfather, Sirius. But, before he became a legend, there lived a boy of his own kind, who would later become a guardian angel to Harry for what he had done in his past. This boy of whom I'm talking about, of course, is James Potter. Enter his adventurous fourth year, seen through the eyes of none other than Lily Evans.

Quick Summary of Characters:

James Potter

Likes: Trouble and Lily

Dislikes: Snape and homework

Other info: James is on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as Seeker. He has lightning-speed reflexes. He can get hotheaded at times, but has great strength in magic. You never want to make fun of him. James is an Animagus that transforms into a stag.

Lily Evans:

Likes: Books and hanging out with friends

Dislikes: James's ego, expulsion, suspension, detention—basically anything bad ending in ion

Other info: Lily is a very kind-hearted person and is always sticking up for people, even when they may make fun of her. She is popular in her own crowd, but refuses to speak to James unless extremely necessary. The only person of whom she willingly talks to is Lupin, ever since she was chased up a tree by his werewolf side one night, forced to sleep up there, and helped him sneak back inside in the morning.

Sirius Black

Likes: Trouble

Dislikes: His family

Other: Sirius Black belongs to a very muggle-hating family. Often, he tries to retaliate their prejudice by befriending people of whom his mother wouldn't call worthy. Sirius is an Animagus that transforms into a black dog.

Remus Lupin

Likes: Getting A's.

Dislikes: When James and Sirius make fun of other students or use violence or get into trouble.

Other: A werewolf bit Remus Lupin when he was seven years old. As such, he transforms every full moon, hiding in the Shrieking Shack every month for three days. He trusts Lily with his secret, and hasn't revealed that she knows to Sirius or James.

X x x x x x x x X

James Potter

And the Marauder's Map:

Chapter One:

Hogwarts Express

X x x x x x x x X

A young girl with long brown hair walked down to the station, a cart with strange books, luggage, and a black cat, in tow. She carried radiance with her vibrant white-toothed smile, her eyes eager with anticipation as she rounded the corner at King's Cross. Behind her, with smiles to match, was a man and a woman. The woman had looks that matched the girl's, right down to the emerald green eyes. She was an elegant sort of woman, a classic mother. Beside her stood a man with a rather dark, mysterious look about him. He had black hair, gelled back to look neat and tidy, along with giant spectacles, that showed off his oak-brown eyes. Behind the two, was a surly, moody girl, only a year or so older than the other. Her hair matched her father's, but was cut short and had curls that made it poof outwards. Her eyes were the color of mud, blackish-brown. She was scrawny, unlike her dear sister, and you could easily see every bone in her body.

She placed her cart by the wall and ran to give her mother and father a final goodbye hug and kiss before she was loaded aboard the train. Once she had bid farewell to them, she turned to her dear sister and gave her a hug, much to the girl's disgust. "Bye, Petunia. I'll write to you," she promised before turning on her heel, giving a final wave, and pushing the cart through. Just before she had completely left, one word mouthed on Petunia's thin-line-of-a-mouth:

_Freak._

Lily walked up to a conductor and handed him her cart, taking her precious kitten, Boo in her arms. Boo meekly looked up and licked her chin before curling into a tiny furball, small enough to fit in the palm of the girl's hand. Lily gave a small smile and boarded, completely joyful. Her eyes searched for her friends aboard, finding most in full compartments, some girls leaking onto the floor. She saw one of her other friends, Molly, in the same predictament as herself. Molly had red, untamed hair, and was somewhat...well..wide. Not to the point of fat, but she certainly could not be called skinny. She had freckles all over her face, and Lily often, but guiltily, found herself wondering if her face would turn orange in the sun. Molly was a pure-blood witch, but a great betrayer to her own kind, for she was always seen around half-bloods and muggle-born girls.

"Lily!" Molly exclaimed. Molly was just two years older than herself, and as such, was named Prefect. Lily and Molly embraced quickly, before walking together to find another troupe of girls to sit with. "How was your summer?"

"It was fine. Tonks paid me a visit, which of course my sister acted like a little prat about. She kept saying that her friends would think she was weird because she was related to a hooligan with blue hair. Tonks tried apologizing and explained that she couldn't change it until the school-year began, but my sister still pouted until we swore we'd put a curse on her to make all her hair fall out," Lily explained. "Other than that, it was pretty normal. How about you?"

"Oh, it was okay. My mother got in another fight with her aunt about our family and tried to send me and my brothers cursed hats. My mother confiscated them and then sent a cursed cake back to her," Molly explained. "If she eats it, she'll have chicken pox for a year."

"Ooh, do you think she ate it?" Lily asked excitedly.

"I doubt it," Molly replied. "But we can hope. Oh! Look, there's a seat in there."

"You take it," Lily responded.

"Are you sure?" Molly questioned.

"Yeah, I'll just go find another place, don't worry," Lily said. Molly thanked her and hurried into the room where she was greeted by squealing girls, all wanting to know what happened over her vacation, who she liked, and if she agreed with the "Who's Hot List" on the _Daily Prophet_'s 'Teen Witch' section. Lily waved to them and hurried along, hoping for a place to sit before it became too crowded. Her eyes immediately caught sight of Lupin and Sirius, sitting in their own cabin, and she hurriedly scanned for James Potter. With a smug smile, she opened the door and peeked her head in.

"Do you mind if I sit with you Remus?" she asked, not even bothering to regard Sirius. In her opinion, he had just as big of an ego as James, though without the following and one-sided flirting. "Everywhere else is full."

"Hmm?" Remus looked up from the magazine article he was reading-_"Magical Creatures in Wizard Society: Dangerous?"_-and smiled softy at the girl. "Oh, sure Lily. That's fine with me." He turned to the black haired boy sitting next to him. "It's alright, right Sirius?"

"Wha- oh yeah, sure." Sirius mumbled. He has been staring out the window completely oblivious of his surroundings. Not that he really cared about Lilly sitting with them.

He turned his attention back to the outside world around the train. It was cloudy and probably cold outside. He was reminded of the ride to the train station, his little brother could complain about everything. The cold, the school, muggles, Sirius, and the list just goes on from there.

"How long are we on this train?" he asked Remus. He was already bored, and that was never classified as a good thing.

"We just got started off Sirius." Remus answered patiently, returning to his magazine. "There's several hours still before we get to Hogwarts. Why don't you go see if the food cart has started the rounds yet."

He looked up at Lily. "Before he goes, do you want anything? Sirius will pay for you, of course."

Lily sat down beside Remus, close to the door. She smiled at him and shook her head. "I'm good, thanks," she replied, placing Boo on the ground beside her. Boo simply mewed, circling Remus's leg and purring, then turning to Sirius and sitting beside him. Lily promptly took some books out of her handbag. Some of the books were the basics: _Defense Against the Dark Arts: Grade 4_, _Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4_, _Hexes and Charms - Fourth Edition_. There was also _Hogwarts, A History_, and a strange black book that had its title taped over. She opened _Hogwarts, A History_ and flipped to where she had last left off, near the end, of course.

She grabbed a highlighter and began to read, occasionally drawing a pink line over text, which immediately disappeared. She didn't seem to mind, and continued to make pink marks, even though they continued to disappear

"Um, Lily," Remus began, his eyes wandering onto her book. She looked up curiously and then down to the highlighter that he was staring at.

"This? Oh, I enchanted it to only show up when I need to review it," she replied. "Otherwise it distracts me from reading the rest." He nodded in understanding then returned to his article.

Bored of this talk, Sirius stood and walked out of the compartment. He headed towards the front of the train looking for the food court.' Man this is boring...' Sirius thought sadly. Then an odd thought struck him, 'Where are the Slytherins?' Normally the Gryffindor couldn't care less about them but, hexing them could sure kill boredom.

Luckily for any Slytherin who was in the area, Sirius spotted the lady selling candy.

Looking at the cart he decided to buy four chocolate frogs. Then as an after thought, bought a bag of Bertie Bott's every flavor jelly beans, who knows when an unsuspecting first year would show up.

James watched his companions silently from under the invisibility cloak, smirking to himself as they talked about mundane things amongst themselves. He'd had a close call already--the Evans girl nearly blew his cover a few minutes ago, but he was able to get out of the seat before she sat down. He suppressed the urge to just yell, "BOO!" and get it over with. Surely if he waited a bit he'd come up with something more creative. He glanced down at his wand for inspiration and let out a soft curse when he realized he was still invisible. Thankfully trains are fairly noisy, and everyone else was too distracted to notice the off color word.

This...was getting a bit boring.

He rummaged around in his pockets, his finger grazing over small objects with varying textures while he pondered each one. Remembering what each thing was a little difficult, as he still had quite a stash left over from his last trip to Hogsmeade. He froze upon feeling a small cylindrical vial resting at the very bottom of his pocket.

The grin that came to his face then, if it weren't for the invisibility cloak, would have made a few people give him a wide berth. He placed it under Lily's seat and broke it, releasing the noxious fumes. Then, calm as you please, he knelt next to her seat, raised his hands to his mouth, and made an impressively projected rude noise.

She bolted up, screaming and glaring. Her eyes flashed to Remus and she gave him a look before eyeing around. "I know your here James!" she exclaimed, her eyes filled with fury. Suddenly, she felt something and grabbed a transparent cloth, pulling it off and kicking the figure under it hard in the stomach. Then, with a final glare to Remus, her eyes starting to water, she ran out of the door, slamming it so hard the glass broke. She stormed off, her kitten getting up and following her out.

_ Arrogant...little...prat,_ She thought, wiping the tears from her eyes. With a small sniff, she realized the smell was clinging and she sighed, muttering a small incantation: _Immediamenta Hygenia_. Instantly, the smell was gone and she sat down outside, knowing fully well that the only other place to go would be with a set of Slytherins.

James's grin faltered a bit when he took Lily's kick, but it came back with a vengence when he caught Sirius's eye. "It was a love tap," he assured his audience, all of whom had turned slightly green at the smell. He tossed his cloak onto the seat and muttered, "Watch this for me."

The second James set off to find Lily, Sirius nearly fell to the ground laughing. Between seeing the look on James' face when she kicked him and the assurance that it was a 'love tap', Sirius wondered whether it was possible to die laughing.

Sirius shook his head and regained his seat while he took out his wand and repaired the shattered glass. "Smooth move, James." He laughed. He wondered momentarily if he should go stop his buddy from doing anything else he'd regret.

Standing he sighed, "Well, we better go after him, coming Remus?" He walked out the door not pausing to see if Remus was following or not.

"I'm staying out of this," Remus sighed. Really, was it necessary for James to make a complete ass of himself every train ride?

Maybe it was in James's best interest to let her blow off steam first...

Nahhhh.

James trotted after her, wincing a little as his stomach protested at the energetic movements so soon after being pummeled. He pushed his way past the trails of broken glass in the next car over, ignoring the sour looks he got from the kids he passed. "Some kid set off a stink bomb," he explained, trying to keep a straight face. "She ran off this way. Did any of you happen to hear which car she's going to?"

"UGH! What's that--"

"Way to go James, it bloody smells like--!"

"Beats me, but she kept going after the next car..."

"Yeah, right. Evans wouldn't ever do something like--"

"Bugger off, Snotter." This from a Slytherin girl in the corner of the car.He blinked and moved on. Some people just couldn't take a joke…

She was near the last compartment, afraid to go inside. Within it were all her friends, all talking about _Witch Weekly_ and the latest "Highlighted Hottie". She was red and blotchy from crying, just from the mere embarrassment. If she went in there now, sympathetic "Awws" would attack her and "What's wrongs?" and that was just not an option.

Her hair was draped, almost covering her entire face. It was rather done purposefully, so if someone passed, she could merely pretend to be asleep. Crying was something she hated, it showed weakness. Normally, it wouldn't bother her, but with her bloodline and the amount of insults she received from Slytherins, it was something she despised.

James felt a _little_ bad when he saw how upset she was. But Lily did over-react a little, going so far as to inflict bodily harm upon his person, so he figured he was still okay in the conscience department.

Well, for now at least.

"Li-ly..." he sang, trying to get her to look up at him.

"Go away," she said through gritted teeth, her eyes focused on her knees. Her hand clenched a bit, then released. She refused to look up at him, her hair hiding her face so easily. A couple of third-year Ravenclaw girls peaked out from the third compartment, their beady eyes in taking the drama.

Sirius ran to catch up with James, but he arrived and was speaking to her before Sirius. 'This isn't going to be good,' he thought to himself. He then spotted a group of girls being nosy and decided to help out.

"Nothing to see here." he said closing the compartment door on them. Then, as an afterthought, he went into their compartment. "Hey have any of you tried these wonderful jelly beans?"

"What do you take us for, first years?" the head brat sighed.

"Fine, be that way." he huffed stepping out of the compartment.

"It was just a joke," James muttered, trying not to sound too pleased with himself. That was one thing that set her off really quick...maybe if he tried to sound sincerely sorry...

"Well, you don't smell anymore, at least." Wait, that didn't come out right...

"I'm...sorry..?"

She didn't seem to be taking the bait today.

"Well, anyway, since you're stuck on the tough love method today, I'll just go..." He pulled a small statuette out of his pocket and lowered it to the floor, tossing it lightly so that it stopped sliding right by her hand. "Thought of you when I got that a few weeks ago. See ya."

Surprisingly to Sirius, James seemed to have the situation under control. He started towards the compartment. He walked slow waiting for either James to catch up with him or to listen to James and Lily fight more.

He then had a wonderful chance to trip a Slytherin second year, who was being a prat. "Trying to get first years to eat Bertie Bott's jelly beans, honestly!" he chastened the Slytherin.

James, a tad bit deflated but still in good spirits, sent a small curse towards the boy Sirius was berating. The guy yelped and started to dance, twirling around more gracefully than his slightly pudgy form should've allowed.

"Yeah. Nothing like a little taste of Feces Pieces to get you to loooove school again. Leave the mischief up to those who can do the world justice." He snickered and stepped out of the way when the boy did an energetic pirouette towards the girls, who shrieked a little as he came close to knocking over their drinks.

Lily kept her head down, her hand moving and grasping the little statuette in her hand. With a flick of the wrist, it slammed into the side of James's head, and she got up, pulling her hair back to reveal a fully recovered face. "Picking on second years? That's a new low, Potter, even for you," she spat, her eyes full of fire.

James turned around and flashed her a warm, painted on smile. "But soft! She speaks?"

"That's gotta hurt." Sirius sighed as the statuette was thrown at James head. "Come on, Evans! No need to get violent." Sirius grinned. "If there is a preference on who you'd like us to 'pick on', just tell us. I'm sure we can help you out with it." He turned to James.

Jameswaved his wand again, and the boy sped up. He glanced back at Lily, a brow rising as he ran his hands through his hair. "Justice for the wicked comes from above, or have you not heard? I'm at least 7 inches taller than this little worm. Besides, this is hardly a new hobby, Lily dear. I know you've kept tabs on my crimes. It's how you show you care."

He sighed. "But perhaps the punishment in this case does not fit the crime." He waved his wand again, and the boy stopped spinning, though he was swaying from dizziness.

Then he vomited profusely on the floor, making the girls near him shriek again.

James laughed. "There. Is that better?" Her eyes filled with fire.

"I take it she's really mad," Sirius said calmly. He sighed. "Some people just don't know the entertainment of a good hex."

"I think you've got her a little miffed, Potter."

The voice came from one of the railway cars, dribbling, thrusting out of pale withdrawn lips and clotted hair. The slick tips caressed, moved, slithered over his zitty jaw line. It was dark, dark, the color of dried blood, inky and drunk from nightshade.

Severus Snape had his wand out in front of him, casually, at ready defense. But he made no move to attack.

"Hexing students off school grounds, that's a terrible, terrible thing to do. You could get in a lot of trouble. I'm sure he deserved it, didn't he, Potter? Poor fellow offend you by standing too close? Just trying to bask in your warm and benevolent glow, I'm sure."

His chin jerked up and the hair oozed away, fat and sluggish. The tarantula hands held the wand still, unoffending.

"Wouldn't want that sort of unsportsmanlike and illegal action reported to school authorities, would we?"

"_Stupefy!_" she cried out, before James could react. Sure that he was frozen in place, she turned and waved her wand, the boy stopping and falling to the ground. "_Impediamenta Hygenia_," she said, the puke and his face becoming clean. She ran to his side and immediately helped him onto a seat, a couple of her friends rushing out to see what the commotion was about.

Lilyturned to Sirius and nodded to the unconscious boy's form. "Move it, unless you want to end up like him!" she exclaimed, none too kindly.

"Ah, I see you've already got things under control." Snape sneered, face contradicting his tone, which had a delicate magnolia feel. The care he handled the words with somehow made them uglier. In the same smooth, polite voice he continued, "Still being manhandled by a mud blood, Potter? I think the proper term is _henpecked_."

"Snivellus." growled Sirius, holding his wand in front of him. He looked between Evans, Snape and James. 'Like I'm really leaving James here.' he thought glaring at Snape. "Why don't you keep your big nose out of other people's business." he snarled.

He wondered momentarily what James would do if he hexed Evans. Then decided against it, when James got up.

Once the hex wore off, James snickered and retorted sarcastically," End up like him? Of course I would. He just enjoyed the most lovely Evans's tender mercies." He shook his head. He could've easily blocked that...but he figured he'd let her win one, especially since he'd ticked her enough already today. She usually mellowed out after a little victory...

Mellow Lily was always a treat to watch. Because it took exactly two seconds to get her riled up again. But...eh...he'd give a few hours before he started up again.. He was getting a little hungry. Besides...now he had Snivelous to play with.

"If only stench was an offense punishable in the school code, Snivvy," he spat back, "Then I'd turn you in anytime. As it is, I have bigger fish to fry." He nodded to Sirius. "If you wanna have a go, my associate will gladly help you. I'm famished from all this do-gooder work."

"Really, now, where's Gryffindor's famed _bravery_? It's blustering _bravado_? Certainly it could be exercised without making girls cry and picking on underclassmen." Snape threw one look around the compartment, at the curious wide-eyed witnesses, then neatly tucked his wand back into his robes. A sort of smugness was crawling in and out of his ears and across his cheeks, taking over his teeth.

"I, of course, was a helpless victim in all of this. Alas, that terrible Potter and his gang of miscreants. I never tossed a spell, refused to fight, tried to _help_ the oppressed. But he couldn't be stopped. Honestly, Headmaster, something must be done." His tone dropped into a snarl. "Go ahead. See what happens when we get to Hogwarts."

"All of you, return to your compartments!" Molly's shrill voice proclaimed. She had previously walked in with her fellow Prefect boy, both of them looking extremely disappointed. "Snape, that means you."

"Potter, Black, and Evans, come with me," the boy said. Molly gave the boy a look after Lily's name was called, but found it out of her hands. She walked to the second year and tended to him, while the Prefect boy led them to the next cart on the train, towards the front.

James followed obediently, tossing a sneer and a smirk over his shoulder at Snape. The message was clear. So what? I can do_ anything _I want. He was tempted to throw another hex, knowing at this point one more wouldn't do anything to condemn or redeem him, but he decided against it when he saw Lily's look of absolute hatred. He sighed.

The things you do for love.

He'd get Snivvy back next chance he found him at school. The Prefect pointed them inside and Lily obligingly went in, her cat by her side. He had to push the two boys in and then locked the doors and walked off to get a teacher.

"Well this year started off splendidly." Sirius muttered sarcastically. His good mood was gone when it seemed he wouldn't be bringing any harm to Snape. "I didn't know there were teachers on the train." Sirius casually mentioned.

"Well my friends, this didn't go exactly as planned. Any thoughts?" Sirius asked. He leaned back in his seat and sighed. Sirius then wondered gloomily why he didn't hex Snape when he had the chance.

"Splendid as can be expected, my friend." James said brightly as if he completely forgot what had transpired just moments before. "I don't know about you, but I think it went well, all things considered." He paused. "And don't worry. We'll get the points back soon."

With that said, he leaned back and let out an indulgent sigh, raking his hands through his hair again. He stretched, the smile on his face turning content as he got comfortable.

A man came walking in. He had dirty blonde hair and grayish-blue eyes, charcoal-black skin covering his body. He was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Kartiff, a wizard from India. He glanced at them and looked at the Prefect, muttering what sounded like "Evans too?". Lily sunk into her chair, feeling like crying again, or attacking James. Either one seemed like a good idea at this point.

The professor walked in, motioning for Lily to move beside the boys. She gave him a pleading look, then obliged, not wishing to get into anymore trouble than she was already in. "So, you boys and girl decided to cast spells on second-year students?"

"I didn't I swear, he tri--!" Lily already tried to exclaim. He held up his hand to silence her, and she sunk into her chair with a nasty look on her face.

"You do know that we are not fully within Hogwarts grounds and technically, this is a violation with the Ministry of Magic," he said. "In fact, if the rule hadn't been passed that we are responsible for your obedience to the rules as soon as you enter that gate, you two would have most likely been expelled." He had pointed to Sirius and Lily, obviously knowing something James didn't.

"Now, Molly has told me that you boys attacked a couple of second year students, and Lily 'stunned' you to get you two to stop. Is this true?"

Lily looked down, obviously aware of the fact that her fate was in their hands.

James held back the insolent grin. Now was the time for tact. He had a little bit of that. "Nope. I did it all, Professor. Lily tried to stop me, but alas, sometimes my odious behavior doesn't even curb for her."

He sighed dramatically, holding out his hands with the wrists pressed together. "I know. Cuff him, right?"

"I see," Kartiff said, pondering for a moment. "Black, you may leave. Now, Potter, we've seemed to have some trouble with you before. There have been multiple complaints about a certain boy casting spells on other students to show off. Your name has come up on all occasions, minus the one with the 'mute' spell."

James did his best to look ashamed. He wasn't entirely convinced he had a future at acting, but he knew he could pull it off sometimes, so... "I know. Lily is trying to make me good again. Honestly, a few years ago I wouldn't have dreamed about doing things like this."

Lie.

He put a finger to his temple as if the situation stressed him out just as much as it did the professor. "I suppose it's a good thing I have good friends. I'm glad I haven't rubbed off on them..."

Lie number two. Sirius was sometimes worse...

He glanced up, his expression glum. "I hate that my house has to suffer for my careless behavior."

Truly, he didn't care one bit. He'd more than make up for the points lost next week. James glanced away from the intense look he was getting from the teacher, as if he was truly ashamed to even meet his eye.

"Never the less," Kartiff said stiffly, his eyes untrusting Potter's words. He got up and began pacing around. "I believe it is time we take more...measurable punishments. For each student who comes into my office complaining about you, that will be one week off Quidditch."

Lily's eyes widened at this, and she turned to James, then thought of her house. "P-Professor," she stammered. "It...it wasn't completely his fault."

"No?" he asked with curiosity. "How so?"

"W-well...see," she said. "He made me mad by jumping in on me in our compartment, and I ran off in anger. He tried to apologize, b-but I was really mad and at first, I just wanted t-to throw something at his head, and I guess something went wrong with it. My spell hit the second year and he started spinning, and he tried to stop it, but the boy just kept going faster. Finally, I had to stun him to get him to stop trying to help and pulled the hex off."

His eyebrows went up. "Really?" he asked. She nodded. "Well, Miss Evans, I had hoped you might have kept your temper calm. However, this cannot go unpunished. Thirty points from Gryffindor will be taken away. You two may leave."

Lily got up immediately and almost seemed to speed walk back to the compartment, her kitten running to keep up. James paused outside, then followed quickly.

"Evans, Evans!" James exclaimed, running after her, cutting her off. "Don't ever do that again. I can take the heat for my own mistakes."

"I didn't do that for you," she snapped. "Gryffindor shouldn't have to be punished because of your stupidity." With that, she left him and walked into a full compartment.

"Of course not," he sighed, returning to his own.

Within minutes, they were at Hogwarts, a young, while monstrously big person calling for the first years. Lily and her group of friends casually stuffed themselves inside a horseless carriage, James watching her go miserably, behind. Sirius patted him on the shoulder, a lopsided grin plastered onto his face.

"Love hurts my friend," Sirius stated. James gave him a narrowed look before joining Remus in the carriage, which was casually reading, not at all questioning the disappearance of Lily halfway through the ride. It was as if he already knew James had done something to upset her.

They entered the hall, sitting down at Gryffindor table. The sorting ceremony began, students getting called to different houses. A couple of first year girls sat beside James, looking at him before giggling behind their hands. He winked at them, glancing at Lily who rolled her eyes. His smile widened.

Lily turned her head and began talking with her friends, her face filled with the happiness she always seemed to get on the first day of Hogwarts. She handed one of the girls the black book with tape, who took it as if it were something holy. The girl showed it to her friend and their eyes widened. Lily smiled and began eating, her eyes searching the crowd. She looked to a girl beside James. "Have you seen Ny--Tonks anywhere?" she asked.

A little distracted, James observed Lily with slight interest as she carried on with the girls. He realized he'd paused in his eating, so he quickly stuffed the potatoes he'd stabbed up with his fork into his mouth.

The girl thought for a moment. "No, but she's probably near the Ravenclaw table. Go check." Lily nodded and got up, whispering something to the girls who had the book. They nodded and she walked off to the Ravenclaw table.

She always did that. She talked to someone close to him while at the same time blatantly refusing to acknowledge that he was there. She wasn't even subtle about it. Maybe he was just being paranoid? He pushed that thought out of his head as his ego puffed up a little. No, this wasn't the first time she'd done that. She'd been doing that ever since she'd declared her hatred of him in the first year. In the very least, she paid enough attention to him for him to earn her...forced lack of attention.

She walked back towards the end of the Gryffindor table, her eyes showing failure in her mission. She had began to pass James, muttering something to herself, when a head popped up beside her feet. "Boo!" a ghostly head exclaimed, wearing a giant feathered hat. Lily leapt back, screaming, landing on something soft. The Bloody Baron fully materialized before flying off, a couple of Slytherins snickering. Lily breathed slowly, before turning and looking up into a pair of blue eyes.

James dropped his fork rather loudly when Lily fell into his lap. She'd quickly remedied the awkward situation, much to his relief and immediately leapt up, running to her side of the table, a rather crimson blush on her face.

Despite his gruff cover up, "Ha. Can't keep her off me!" he knew Remus and Sirius were going to have a good chuckle over this later when he was out of earshot. He moodily shoved food into his mouth and spat out some garbage about Quidditch to redirect the conversation.

It wasn't long before he felt normal again.

"Yeah," he said slyly to Remus," I think my broom would comfortably fit two, but Lily said she'd rather have a romantic stroll when we go to Hogsmeade this year." His eyes danced with amusement as he watched Lily out of the corner of his eye, just to make sure she'd heard what he said. She had, and her eyes filled with fury. She gripped her fork to the point where her knuckles turned white.

"Don't kill him now Lily," a dark haired girl whispered from across. She had pale skin and brown freckles around her nose. Her name was Jenna, and she was a particularly beautiful girl. Lily often found herself jealous, despite the fact that Jenna was one of her closest friends. "There are too many witnesses."

"Yeah," Tessa agreed. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and brown eyes. She was a rather gawky girl, taller than any girl in her class, yet bone-skinny. "Wait until after classes, or better yet, sneak into his room at night and sneak up on him. If anyone wakes up, just say you were admiring him while he sleeps." She and Jenna giggled while Lily cocked her head, glaring.

"One day, he'll get what he deserves," Lily swore. Then, rather loudly, "Anyways, I'm going up to the room. _Someone_ must have forgotten how the shower works." She cocked her head at James, threw him a nasty glare, and then stormed away, five friends in tow. James blew out his breath. This would be a long, miserable year.

X x x x x x x X

R&R!


End file.
